• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win

1

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch

2

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

3

The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Successremote work

A real estate billionaire said Fridays are ‘dead forever’ for offices and remote work guru Nick Bloom says he’s right—it’s part of a new 3-part week

By
Paolo Confino
Paolo Confino
and
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Paolo Confino
Paolo Confino
and
Jane Thier
Jane Thier
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 11, 2023, 4:13 PM ET
An empty office.
New data shows Friday is the day when most people work from home, according to think tank WFH Research. Masafumi Nakanishi
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

In June, Steven Roth, the billionaire chairman of Vornado, one of New York City’s biggest commercial landlords, said that as far as in-office work is concerned, Fridays are “dead forever.” He added that Mondays weren’t far behind (“touch and go,” as he phrased it).

Recommended Video

Now, Nick Bloom, Stanford economics professor and head of WFH Research—a group that has been digging into remote work data since before the pandemic—has officially deemed Roth correct. 

“Friday has become the day to #wfh,” Bloom tweeted on Friday, adding that it “looks like [Steven Roth] was right.” But as always with Bloom and his vaunted remote work research, there is more to the story.

Despite the fact that offices have been completely desolate on Fridays for over three years now, Bloom told Fortune that he was nonetheless surprised that Roth’s prediction has ended up bearing out. “I thought this would be more stable, but I guess…Friday [is] increasingly winning out in the WFH stakes,” Bloom told Fortune by email on Friday. “I think it’s part of the bigger push towards coordinated hybrid, whereby we have firms pushing for folks to come in on the same days.”

In-person socializing and collaboration, as always, is the main appeal for office work. As a result, Bloom said, it makes sense to coordinate with one’s coworkers, among whom the consensus has been made clear: “That includes coordinating to be home on Friday.” Indeed, coordinating in-office days among teams is the best way to pull off “organized hybrid,” the term Bloom uses to describe the gold standard working arrangement.

The new Friday calculus shows Bloom that there is now a “three-part week,” he tweeted. Mondays through Thursday are one thing, the weekend, when offices are closed, is another—and then there’s Friday.

Back-to-work mandates rarely include Friday 

While it’s certainly unlikely that cubicles will ever be populated on Saturdays and Sundays, Fridays may still have a fighting chance—especially given how many major corporations have finally put their foot down about returning to the office. For years, many high-profile companies have faced fierce resistance from employees they’ve ordered back to work. 

Amazon instituted a three-day minimum for in-person work back in February. The policy faced its latest snafu earlier this week when some employees got a disciplinary email even though they’d been complying with the new rules. Google also has a policy of a mandatory three days in the office, and will reportedly only consider full-time remote work in exceptional circumstances. 

Meanwhile, Salesforce upped the ante even further, with an obligatory four days in-person for some teams. Based on Bloom’s research one might suspect the lone work-from-home day for Salesforce employees might naturally be Friday. 

Bloom also has data to back up that employers and employees don’t see eye to eye on the number of days they’re meant to be in the office. On average, there’s about half a workday’s difference between the number of days workers would like to be in the office compared with what their bosses expect—or require, WFH Research has found. 

Per a recent report from real estate consulting firm JLL, bosses have mandated a return (at least some days per week) for 1.5 million workers, and another million are set to be given the same threat in the back half of this year. 

Even though more and more companies are beginning to formalize exactly when employees are allowed to work from home, the practice remains widespread. An estimated 58% of workers—a figure that when extrapolated to the entire U.S. workforce would be equal to 92 million people—can work remotely some days of the week, per June research from McKinsey. Naturally, the fact that at least one of those days will be Friday is all but a given.

The Fortune 500 Innovation Forum will convene Fortune 500 executives, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to help define what’s next for the American economy, Nov. 16-17 in Detroit. Apply here.
About the Authors
Paolo Confino
By Paolo ConfinoReporter

Paolo Confino is a former reporter on Fortune’s global news desk where he covers each day’s most important stories.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
By Jane Thier
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Success

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Success

Emily Blunt is worth $80 million and just pocketed $15 million for her latest film—but she once wanted to be a Spanish translator for the UN
SuccessCareers
Emily Blunt is worth $80 million and just pocketed $15 million for her latest film—but she once wanted to be a Spanish translator for the UN
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 2, 2026
2 hours ago
Trump’s 927-page disclosure is just a normal Tuesday for direct indexing and crypto wealth managers
InvestingDonald Trump
Trump’s 927-page disclosure is just a normal Tuesday for direct indexing and crypto wealth managers
By Catherina GioinoJuly 1, 2026
11 hours ago
U.S. Polo Assn. CEO J. Michael Prince
SuccessThe Promotion Playbook
U.S. Polo Assn. CEO was told he wasn’t right for a promotion—so he ‘outworked’ anyone else who wanted the job for 6 months straight
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJuly 1, 2026
18 hours ago
Nikesh Arora, chief executive officer at Palo Alto Networks
SuccessJobs
CEO of $248 billion cybersecurity company says workers are about to face a ‘Darwinian moment’ thanks to AI: Evolve or get cut
By Emma BurleighJuly 1, 2026
18 hours ago
I know how Gen Z can survive the ‘jobpocalypse’ because I built an AI company — in 2015
CommentaryCareers
I know how Gen Z can survive the ‘jobpocalypse’ because I built an AI company — in 2015
By Jeremy FainJuly 1, 2026
23 hours ago
mr
Commentary250 Years of Innovation
America needs 3.8 million manufacturing workers. This CEO has a blueprint to find them
By Mark RayfieldJuly 1, 2026
23 hours ago

Most Popular

As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
Big Tech
As Big Tech showers employees with perks to win the talent war, Nvidia built a nearly $5 trillion company by making people pay for their own lunch
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
7 days ago
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
Newsletters
The Supreme Court's birthright citizenship ruling hands the U.S. economy a $7.7 trillion win
By Diane BradyJuly 1, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of July 1, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJuly 1, 2026
20 hours ago
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
Success
Philanthropy leader at Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ Giving Pledge says children of billionaires are pushing them to give their wealth away faster
By Preston ForeJune 27, 2026
5 days ago
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
Success
Elon Musk on MacKenzie Scott giving away $26 billion of her fortune: 'Sadly,' it makes the world a worse place
By Sydney LakeJune 29, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.